Keeping Tabs on Equipment Anywhere, Anytime: Siemens Launches Wireless Asset Management and Tracking Solution for Healthcare Fac
April 09 2008 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Siemens' AMT Offers Real-Time Information via Pocket PCs and Web
Portals, Setting the Stage for Better Patient Care, Cost
Reductions, and Improved Workflow CARY, N.C., April 9, 2008
/PRNewswire/ -- With reimbursements declining and budgets
dwindling, healthcare facilities across the nation are looking for
new ways to control rising costs of delivering medical care.
According to business research and consulting firm Frost &
Sullivan, 5 percent to 15 percent of hospital inventory is written
off each year because it cannot be located or serviced. By keeping
better track of what they already have, hospitals and imaging
centers can save considerable amounts of money each year. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO ) To
assist healthcare facilities with this challenge, Siemens
Healthcare (http://www.siemens.com/healthcare) has developed a
system that enables personnel to monitor the location of medical
devices in real-time. Siemens' Asset Management and Tracking (AMT)
helps hospitals provide better patient care, reduce costs, improve
workflow, and remain compliant. AMT provides information on the
location of medical devices via a Web portal or pocket PC. Each
product in the facility is tagged with the Ekahau WiFi RTLS
(Real-Time Location System) tag. When coupled with ARCHIBUS(R), an
integrated suite of applications, the information about the
product's location is transmitted through a WiFi network to the
ARCHIBUS Executive Information System, creating a 360-degree view
of the facility's assets and equipment while maintaining historical
use records. "Misplaced equipment is a very common, and an often
overlooked, problem at hospitals that negatively impacts several
aspects of day-to-day hospital activity," said Rick Legleiter,
senior vice president, Customer Service, Siemens Medical Solutions
USA, Inc. "To address this issue, Siemens developed an easily
customized tagging system that delivers total transparency to
managers and administrators -- freeing up more of their time to
provide care to patients." Siemens' AMT focuses on many issues that
result from lost or stolen assets: -- Patient Care. One major
challenge in delivering quality healthcare is a hospital's ability
to have the right resources at the right time in the right place.
Finding portable equipment quickly can be a struggle. In the ER,
especially, the time spent looking for an available bed or the
closest infusion pump can mean increased risk to a patient. By
tagging all equipment, personnel can locate items immediately from
a pocket PC or Web portal. -- Cost Reduction. According to
healthcare compliance company HCPro, hospitals can lose nearly $1
million a year in medical equipment to theft alone. Siemens' AMT
helps a facility reduce costs by improving equipment delivery time
and utilization, thereby eliminating the need to continually rent
or buy more to replace lost or stolen items. -- Workflow. Improved
workflow is one of the top priorities of hospitals. Equipment that
can't easily be found cannot be serviced quickly. For example,
studies show that 38 percent of a clinical engineer's time is spent
locating the equipment. Siemens' AMT means more time can be
dedicated to maintaining equipment uptime. -- Regulatory. According
to a Government Accountability Office survey of six Veterans
Affairs medical centers, the percentage of property items that
could not be accounted for ranged from 38 percent to 87 percent.
Asset and Management Tracking ensures that the hospital is prepared
at any given time to face an auditor's scrutiny of record keeping
and process compliance. Innovative technologies at the heart of
Siemens' AMT Siemens' AMT combines the power of Siemens healthcare
expertise with the integrated suite of applications from
ARCHIBUS(R), as well as the Ekahau wireless tracking technology,
into a comprehensive, seamless system. Ekahau, the only
software-based real-time location system, is a wireless
radiofrequency solution that continually monitors and reports
locations of assets. Ekahau also generates actionable information,
such as how many individual pieces of a particular equipment type
are in one area of the hospital, which pieces are rented, and when
each piece of equipment was last serviced. Ekahau's patented
radiofrequency modeling technology leverages standard WiFi access
points and tags so no proprietary infrastructure is needed. Any
WiFi network can function as the backbone and sensor network for
the system. ARCHIBUS, one of the world's foremost infrastructure
and facilities management solutions, offers applications that
address all aspects of facilities and infrastructure management. An
ARCHIBUS server links the information silos and diverse
applications that support people, processes, places, and physical
assets into a comprehensive integrated solution. Because the
ARCHIBUS suite is designed with a flexible, modular structure,
facilities can assemble the combination of applications that best
suits an organization's requirements. About Siemens Healthcare
Siemens Healthcare is one of the world's largest suppliers to the
healthcare industry. The company is a renowned medical solutions
provider with core competence and innovative strength in diagnostic
and therapeutic technologies as well as in knowledge engineering,
including information technology and system integration. With its
laboratory diagnostics acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare is the
first fully integrated diagnostics company, bringing together
imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy, and healthcare information
technology solutions, supplemented by consulting and support
services. Siemens Healthcare delivers solutions across the entire
continuum of care -- from prevention and early detection, to
diagnosis, therapy and care. The company employs more than 48,000
people worldwide and operates in 130 countries. In the fiscal year
2007 (Sept. 30), Siemens Healthcare reported sales of euro 9.85
billion, orders of euro 10.27 billion, and group profit of euro
1.32 billion. Further information can be found by visiting
http://www.siemens.com/healthcare.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGODATASOURCE:
Siemens Healthcare CONTACT: Tom Schaffner of Siemens Healthcare,
+1-610-448-1477, Web site: http://www.siemens.com/healthcare
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